Veeta was doing what dachshunds have been professionally committed to doing for centuries: investigating a hole that was absolutely none of her business.
Unfortunately, this particular hole led to an entire underground cave system.
The adventurous dachshund had gone outside with the family’s other dog, Macaroni, one Saturday afternoon in Lexington, Kentucky. When Macaroni returned alone, Veeta’s family could hear her barking, but they could not work out where the sound was coming from.
Eventually, they traced it to a small opening in the ground.
What looked like an ordinary backyard hole opened into a much larger cavity below. Years of erosion, natural limestone, and the roots of a nearby silver maple tree had created a maze-like network beneath the yard. Veeta had gone in headfirst and ended up around four feet underground, nearly ten feet from where she entered.
Officers from Lexington-Fayette Animal Care & Control began digging. After an hour, and a trip to one officer’s home for additional tools, it became clear that this was no ordinary dachshund retrieval.
The Lexington Fire Department was called in, and the operation quickly expanded to include firefighters, animal control officers, and neighbors. A camera was lowered into the opening, while rescuers used search equipment and listening devices to determine which of the underground passages Veeta had followed.
Fortunately, Veeta kept barking for almost the entire rescue.
Her voice gave the team something to follow as they dug through the heat, inch by inch. The ground around the cavity was unstable, so every move had to be deliberate, digging too quickly or in the wrong place could cause the tunnel to collapse around her. Nearly a dozen people ultimately helped with the effort.
Five hours after Veeta disappeared, the rescuers finally reached her.
She emerged covered in dirt and frightened, but remarkably uninjured. After being reunited with her family, and delivering what Animal Care & Control described as nonstop tail wags, Veeta was taken inside for what her human called “a good old bath.”
It was an enormous multi-agency rescue for one very small dog, powered by officers, firefighters, neighbors, a camera, several shovels, and one dachshund who had the good sense to keep announcing her location.
Veeta is now safely back home.
Whether she has reconsidered her policy of entering suspicious holes without authorization remains considerably less certain.
Sources
Lexington-Fayette Animal Care & Control — Original rescue post
WKYT — “Lexington dachshund rescued after becoming trapped underground for 5 hours”
